Thursday, 10 November 2016

In China, the element of control is legendary. Now we know that strict regulation is certainly an enemy of technological progress. But tech giants are more likely to be worried about the requirement to open up their data to the authorities in China.

There are fears that China’s new cybersecurity rules may block western innovation. To quote the MIT Technology Review, "The rules, announced Monday, will provide central Chinese authorities with greater powers over the monitoring of data and hardware. Notably, the laws will open companies up to far greater scrutiny from the government, demanding that Internet firms coöperate with the state’s criminal investigations and provide full access to data if officials suspect them of wrongdoing."

We have seen since Stalinist times that the authorities can ride in on a whim. Without even a suspicion of wrongdoing when they simply wish to monitor and find problems.

We already know that in China it is difficult to protect IP, so music, film, books and other creative works are pirated and made freely available. However when the 'West' finds out information about Chinese citizens the authorities wish to know about it.

After the election of Trump in the US it is possible that the American Dream of the last century will be changed, and possibly loose its allure and excitement. At the same time, we may find that moves like this lead to the faster rise of Asia as a controlling power in the world.